


To Fall

by SecondSilk



Category: House M.D.
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-02
Updated: 2010-08-02
Packaged: 2017-10-10 22:04:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/104810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecondSilk/pseuds/SecondSilk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How it happened, and maybe why</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Beta-ed by Topaz_Eyes  
> Spoilers for/set in House v. God.

James didn't know, the way that House did, when someone was lying. But he talked to his patients and listened to them when they spoke, so he knew when they were telling the truth. Grace didn't have anyone else to tell things to. And today she had no one to take her home.

James had spent enough time listening to House's long-running commentary on his habits to know the danger that he was in. But part of it simply was that he did not want to go home. Back to House's apartment, he corrected himself. So he drove her home then spent his money on ingredients to cook her dinner, instead. She had a tin of tuna and a wilted lettuce left over from the last time she had shopped for herself, but nothing else could be used to make a meal. He took his time at the store, choosing spices and herbs to cook with the chicken he bought.

Then he drove back to her house. She complimented him on the meal. He talked about House. They washed the dishes together.

"I'm sorry," he said. "You don't need to hear about my problems."

"You know all about my problems," she said, with something close to a teasing smile.

They drank coffee on Grace's soft, floral patterned couch. They talked about anything other than their problems until it was past time for James to take his leave. He stood, and she stood too. Four feet between them, and there was nothing left to remind either of them of why it was a bad idea.

Grace stepped across the space between them. James watched her carefully, unsure whether he wanted to move or not. He was not able to think past the immediate situation, unable to imagine (although he knew) what would happen next. She was watching him as well, through eyes that were slightly clouded with her medication.

He took half a step backwards, little more than a flinch. She smiled, a quick upturn of her lips that acknowledged the awkwardness, but made no apology for it.

"It's been a long time," she said.

Her voice was wry, like it might be a joke. The words echoed in James's head and made him shiver.

She reached out and wrapped her fingers around his wrist, drawing him closer. She raised her right hand to his chest. His hand fell naturally to her waist. She was smaller than Julie, frail his mind forced him to say, and he did not desire her. But he liked her, and felt far too comfortable here. And it had been a long time for him, too.

"Please, James, I need this."

Then her hand was on his cheek, he could taste the spices on her breath, and he was kissing her.  
James knew what it was to fall in love, and he knew that this was not that. But he was falling anyway, fully and completely out of himself. And that was what he wanted.

*

James woke in the morning, curled around Grace with the memories of the evening laid out in his mind. He felt groggy. He also felt warm and calm.

He expected her maybe to say "stay," and have 'until the end,' fall heavily between them. Or maybe that she would have the phrases to let him go easily, to say that it was relief for both them, just a one-off thing.

But she made him coffee, smiled, and simply said, "I won't make you sleep on the couch."


End file.
